Bush Is No Reagan, But...

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/061004A.shtml

Bush Is No Reagan, But...
By Steve Weissman
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 10 June 2004

Ronald Reagan is a tough act to follow, as no one feels more this week than George W. Bush.

Reagan walked tall, but spoke softly. Confident rather than cocky, he felt comfortable in his own skin in a way that poor Mr. Bush never will. Sunny rather than brash, he knew his limits, admitted mistakes, and rarely crowed. Always gracious, he extended the hand of friendship to his political foes, and did it without a grimace.

My favorite of his friendly rivals was Tip O'Neill, the six-foot-three, three-hundred-pound Massachusetts Democrat who served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Tip loathed Mr. Reagan's politics. He blasted the president as "Herbert Hoover with a smile" and "a cheerleader for selfishness." Yet, personally, the two men got along well. "I have known every president since Harry Truman and there's no question in my mind that Ronald Reagan was the worst," said the old liberal giant. But, Tip added, "he would have made a hell of a king."

Especially in Mr. Reagan's second term, many suspected he was no longer king, but only playing one on TV. Who can forget the proud man trying to make a speech while looking wistfully at his loving wife Nancy as she mouthed the words he could not recall? Even then, he somehow managed to maintain his regal bearing.

Mr. Bush is a very different actor. Yet, in many ways, Reagan pioneered the role that his understudy now tries so desperately to play.

...more...

[CharlesGroce]

1. maybe that was the problem at the time...

that these men can despise each other politically, but then shake hands and wink at each other in acknowledgement of their respective membership of the ultimate good ole boy network: the modern American political establishment.

Maybe if Mr. O'neill had backed up his rhetoric with a little genuinness, all those tens of thousands of people in Central America wouldn't have died for nothing. Reagan deserved to be impeached for his crimes, yet got away with his hide and now this disgusting revelry of his legacy all over the mainstream media today.

America deserved to learn a lesson but the good ole boys made sure that didn't happen, that America didn't wake up. Good riddence to the both of them, O'Neill politically rather than in death.

[patrice]

2. What really bothers me is that when the time comes to

"pay the piper" many, many of the folks who caused this will simply move to wherever things are nicer.

[WilliamPitt]

3. Kick